SALT LAKE CITY — When Utah Republicans passed a ban on gender-affirming health care for children and teens in 2023, they argued it was needed to protect vulnerable kids from treatments that could cause long-term harm.

Years later, the results of a study commissioned under the same law contradict that claim, and the Republican-led Legislature is facing pressure to reconsider the restrictions.

Utah's Department of Health and Human Services and experts from the state's leading health organizations concluded from a study of thousands of transgender people that gender-affirming care generated "positive mental health and psychosocial functioning outcomes."

Policies that prevent access to hormone therapy for minors cannot be justified based on scientific findings or concerns about potential regret in the future, the report states.

The agency is not taking a position on whether lawmakers should lift the statewide ban on hormone therapy and surgeries for minors. But it reminded lawmakers that they had intended for the prohibition to be temporary until the state could conduct its own research

Utah is among 27 states that have adopted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, who Republican politicians have made a political lightning rod. Federal judges have struck down bans in Arkansas, Florida and Montana as unconstitutional, though a federal appeals court has stayed the Florida ruling. The law in Kansas is not yet being enforced.

Some Utah Republicans said they were open to considering the findings of the study, while others were quick to dismiss it.

In a joint statement, the House sponsor of the 2023 law banning gender-affirming care and the chair of the Legislature's interim health committee said they "intend to keep the moratorium in place."

"Young kids and teenagers should not be making life-altering medical decisions based on weak evidence," said Republican Reps. Katy Hall and Bridger Bolinder. "Simply put, the science isn't there, the risks are real, and the public is with us."

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